Distinguished Scholar Prize

Rediscovered Scholar Prize

This cash prize is meant to buy part-time professors (and/or lapsed scholars and writers) the time to transform their Ph.D. dissertations and other major works into books that are ready to be published. This grant will only be open to part-time academics, researchers, and writers marginalized by a lack of financial support.
Read about this year's recipient»

Dr. Peter Maguire

Founder of Fainting Robin Foundation

Whether supporting Cambodians seeking accountability
after genocide, solving cold cases about American MIAs in Southeast Asia, helping powerless academics fired
without cause or compensation, inventing ocean lifesaving equipment for American Special Operations soldiers,
helping young and controversial academics get their books published, aiding young veterans transitioning back into civilian life, assisting the family of a woman brutally murdered overseas, or saving a life in the ocean, —professor and author Peter Maguire has devoted his life to helping others. Since he received his Ph.D. with distinction from Columbia University in 1993, Maguire has never received a grant, or fellowship or held a full-time academic position. Yet his research and scholarship on the Nuremberg trials, international criminal law, Khmer Rouge atrocities, and smuggling has been internationally recognized. “Maguire’s career thus far is not conventional but it is certainly admirable in that it puts scholarship at the service of historical accountability and public understanding. This is, after all, our calling and our responsibility. In this way this young scholar has honored and enriched our profession,” wrote Bancroft Prize-winning historian Ronald Steel.

Peter Maguire on Huffington Post Live, 2013

Peter Maguire speaking at the World War II Museum in New Orleans, LA, 2016

Peter Maguire with Tuol Sleng Prison survivor Bou Meng, 2003

Peter Maguire with Tuol Sleng Prison survivor Van Nath, 1997

Peter Maguire with Tuol Sleng Prison survivor Im Chan, 1994

Books by Peter Maguire

Law and War: An American Story (Columbia University Press, 2001)

Facing Death in Cambodia (Columbia University Press, 2005)

Law and War: International Law and American History (Columbia University Press, 2010)

Thai Stick: Surfers, Scammers, and the Untold Story of the Marijuana Trade (Columbia University Press, 2013)

Combat Rescue

Fainting Robin Foundation is a non-profit organization (501(c)(3)) that will provide financial support for independent scholars and journalists. The programs and services are offered without discrimination on the basis of age, race, national origin, ethnicity, gender, physical ability, sexual orientation, political affiliation or religious beliefs. EIN #82-0835015